Thursday, October 14, 2010

This 50th-anniversary edition of Hazlitt's million-selling volume has been updated to include current statistics and an introduction by presidential aspirant Steve Forbes. This lay reader's guide has a place in all collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A magnificent job of theoretical exposition."

—Ayn Rand

“I strongly recommend that every American acquire some basic knowledge of economics, monetary policy, and the intersection of politics with the economy. No formal classroom is required; a desire to read and learn will suffice. There are countless important books to consider, but the following are an excellent starting point: The Law by Frédéric Bastiat; Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt; What has Government Done to our Money? by Murray Rothbard; The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek; and Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan.
If you simply read and comprehend these relatively short texts, you will know far more than most educated people about economics and government. You certainly will develop a far greater understanding of how supposedly benevolent government policies destroy prosperity. If you care about the future of this country, arm yourself with knowledge and fight back against economic ignorance. We disregard economics and history at our own peril.”

—Ron Paul, Senator from Texas

Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics Book Review:

A simple, straightforward analysis of economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a new orthodoxy.

From the Inside Flap

A simple, straightforward analysis of economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a new orthodoxy.

About the Author:Henry Hazlitt

Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993), was a libertarian philosopher, an economist, and a journalist. He was the founding vice-president of the Foundation for Economic Education and an early editor of The Freeman magazine, an important libertarian publication. Hazlitt wrote Economics in One Lesson, his seminal text on free market economics, in 1946, bringing his ideas and those of the so-called Austrian School to the American scene. His work has influenced the likes of economist Ludwig von Mises, novelist and essayist Ayn Rand, and 2008 Libertarian Party Presidential nominee and congressman, Ron Paul. Hazlitt has been cited as one of the most influential literary critics and economic writers of his time.

The following is the Foreword by Steve Forbes. We have been inundated lately with a barrage of 50th anniversaries of important events--the dropping of the atomic bombs, Iwo Jima, VE and VJ days, Bretton Woods. And with this edition of Henry Hazlitt's best-known work we commemorate another. Five decades have passed since the publication of a book on economics so powerful in its clarity and simplicity that we can declare, without question, it has shaped our world.
With Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt provided a loaded arsenal for those who would do combat with the cloudy and mistaken economic wisdom of the day. In that respect, he is something of a refuter. He addressed every mayor economic fallacy, all prominently and widely held, and refuted them. He showed why protective tariffs are not protective, why minimum wage laws hurt those they are intended to benefit, and why government attempts to stabilize and fix prices throw them out of whack. And in doing so he advanced the notion that markets freed from government intervention can best serve and improve society.
In a period when the economics undergirding the New Deal were ascendant, Hazlitt emerged as one of the most successful proponents of free markets, and one of the most forceful opponents of the Keynesian nostrums dictating U.S. economic policy. From his perch as an editorial writer for The New York Times he gave the Roosevelt Administration fits. At The Nation, where he signed on as literary editor but wrote extensively on economics, he gave his editors similar fits. And as a regular columnist for Newsweek from 1946 to 1966 he helped educate millions about the rudiments of economics and the failures of widespread government intervention. As a sign of the times, today we would be rightly suspicious of any economics writer with that sort of resume.
Ludwig von Mises called him "our leader." Friedrich Hayek lauded him similarly. H. L. Mencken, not known for lavishing praise on many, revered Hazlitt as "one of the few economists in human history who could really write." But Henry Hazlitt was no economist. At least, not officially. No Ph.D.--or bachelor's degree, for that matter--adored his walls. Hazlitt's insatiable curiosity about the way the world works led him, self-taught, to an understanding of basic economics astonishing in its breadth and scope. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.